Ok so this may be a running blog but every now and again I also get on our Zwift bike. Mostly when I am too scared to run, its icy or I want to do something that doesn’t feel quite as impossible as running. When I signed up for the virtual challenge and set the time frame I always assumed I would have some bike miles in the mix. Otherwise I’d need much longer to cover the 70 miles. Anyway, this morning I was supposed to get up at 5am and go to the gym. We’d agreed that plan. I’d set the alarm but I didn’t sleep well and was awake at 4.45. Kath was sound asleep, Odin and Storm were curled up alongside her and it felt peaceful and perfect. I snuggled into the back of Kath and dozed until we eventually both woke up around 6.15. Too late for the gym. Ooops. After work I completed Day 1 of the Dynamic Runner April Challenge (more on that next time) and then after tea I got on the bike. So if you are wondering if the challenge is working to get me out – yes it is. I got on the bike because I knew I needed miles for the challenge. So let’s see where we are now. I was in Camaguey before the ride. Now I am in Trinidad. They are actually just over 130 miles apart so we are in virtual challenge portal territory again.

I am trying to untangle my Cuba memories. Things blur and I don’t have much other than the photos to go by. I journaled a little while we were there but not consistently. I remember the art places we visited and the fact that the symbol of the city is the tinajón – or clay pot. We bought a little one as a souvenir. I am not sure I remember all that much else about the place to be honest. The well filed photos from the trip suggest these three photos were from there.

Trinidad I do remember. It was hot on the day we were there. Most of the people on the tour with us stuck together and did the organised stuff. No idea what that was on the afternoon Kath and I went into Trinidad itself. We stayed on the outskirts I think and maybe we all went into town together but we didn’t go back with everyone, or maybe we went off on our own. We wandered the cobbled streets, sat and watched the world go by, got some food in a cafe where we met another couple from our trip. They were horrified we were eating the salad – concerned we might get upset tummies if the salad had been washed with tap water (they didn’t seem concerned about the ice cubes in their drinks though). I liked Trinidad. I am not sure why. Maybe just the feel of the place. Here are a few pics (most of the others have people in so these are what you get).

Today I don’t want to think deep and meaningful. I don’t want to think about what is happening in that part of the world or that I can do nothing to help. I can’t today. My own demons are too close to the surface. Today I just want to remember the feeling of the warm Cuban sun on my skin, the sound of cuban Spanish being spoken all around me, the clip clop of hooves on the cobbles as horse and cart made their way through town, the colours of the roof tiles and the slowness of the pace. Maybe what I remember most about that hot afternoon in Trinidad is the absence of any sort of rush, no need to be anywhere or do anything. A pace so unfamiliar to our modern lives and yet so familiar and necessary at some sort of fundamental level. I remember being present in the moment a lot when we were in Cuba. I remember not really thinking about what had been and what was to come. That was probably helped hugely by the lack of phone access. We had phones and I will have had Facebook back then but our phones didn’t work in Cuba and neither of us was at all bothered about that! It was easier to just be, to not worry about creating perfect social media posts and memories but to actually focus on being there. And I think the difference is that I might not remember all the details of what exactly the buildings are or why I took a particular photo and I might get muddled about what was where but I remember really clearly how it felt. I wonder if I can say the same about more recent trips where it’s social media posts or even these blogs that tell the story. Anyway, that’s a thought for another day and maybe one that isn’t for the running blog.

I wonder where I am going next and how big a leap it will be. I am looking forward to looking through the photos of wherever that turns out to be. Let’s see how my legs feel about some more miles tomorrow